Improvement in flying-machines



UNITED STATES vPATENT OEEICE.

vv. E. QUINEY, 0E WILMINGTON, DELAWARE.

IMPROVEMENT vIN FLYING-MACHINES.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 95,513, dated October 5, 1869.

dying apparatus, intended to provide an ar-` rangement ot temporary sails resembling in some respects the wings of birds in their construction and operation, which may be readily connected to the body ot' a person by means ot' a cnirass lfitted to the body, and madeot' metallic straps formed and adapted to assist the operator to support the wings,and at the same time shield him from the shocks and jars due to the operation of the wings, as will be more fully described on reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure l represents a perspective view ot' a person flying through the air ,with my improved apparatus. Figs. 2 to 6 represent detail views.

.Similar letters of reference indicate corre- I spondin g parts.

The apparatus consists,fessentially, .of two side wings and one dorsal wing attached to the body in a manner to permit of theirrbeing actuated freely to perform the function of win gs,

and in certain details of rigging` for operating them. The said wings A consistof one long rod, B, two or more shorter ones, O D,-seciirely fastened across it, the one C near the inner ends, and the others near the points of the wings, and a'webbing of canvas or other substance impervious to air spread thereon. The rods C and Bare so disposed that the wings have greaterv breadth in the rear of the long rods than on the front. The said transverse rods may bel made of one piece and .rigidly connected to the long arms or inV two hieces and hinged, which latter is the arrangement I prefer, and have represented at E E. When so hinged the wings are spread land closed by slides supporting arms in a manner somewhat similarto that of an umbrella, the armsC being connected to sliding sleeves F by jointed braces F', the said sleeves being held in the position to extend the arms by cords-F2, fastenedfto the xed stocks E.

The long rods should be tapered, with the 'heavy 'endsadjacent to the operator, arid the inner transverse rods should be longer than the outer ones. The .Spreading of the inner transverse rods extend the outer ones by the tension lof the canvas.

vCords-G are-attached to the ends of the rods G and passed through rings G', through which similar cords, G2, pass. `to the ends of the transverse rodsD, another cord, G, connects with each ot' the rings G', passing through guide-rings supported at the `shoulders in the top: of a metallic cnirass,

consisting of asemicircular metallic waistband,

H, two shoulder-straps, H', doubling over the shoulders, and connectedat the front ofthe waist to a leather waistband, H2, to which the strap H issecured. Another metallic strap, H3, rises up at the center of the back from the waistband, and is connected to the others near the' top by a transverse strap, H4. This cuirass forms the essential means of` connecting the wholelapparatns to the body..

' At the top of the back where the cord passes f through the said guide-rings an elastic section, G5, is introdnced, which, expands when the wings are pressed down in the act of iiying, and by its recoil assists to raise them again.: It also holds them in nearly ahorizontal position. Uther cords G5 are connected to theouter ends ofthe longrods passing through the rings G' where the shortarms D are connected to the rods B. These cords, when maintained in a taut condition by the braces F, acting on the jointed transverse rods U, maintainthe wings inthe spread condition, as represented in the drawings.

The wings may the cords Fztrom the point E and closing the transverse rods C down upon the main rods B.

.The larger ends of the main rods B project bef yond the inner transverse rods, C,.in front of the waist ofthe person, and are connected to the'waist-belt by a double strap, I, which is swiveled to the waistband to permit it to rotate on its point ot' connection as the ends ot' the rods B rise and fall with a kind of opening and closing motion, permitting the said ends to lap each other, it' greater length is preferred to obtain more leverage.

Similarly connectedv and terminating at the point E', i

bel folded by disconnecting l Sheaths K are applied to the forearm to form the means of suspending the wings therefrom by the cross-rods (l, and serve as the fulcra whereon they oscillate.

The inner'ends of the rods B are grasped by the hands, and the vibratory motion imparted to the wings thereby. l

An arrangement of stay-cords is provided for the under side of the wings similar to that above described for the upper side, except that the rings L, wherein they center, are considerably nearer tothe operator. The rings L, wherein the system of stay-cords below the rings are centered, are connected by cords L to a ring, L2, suspended from the waistband by an elastic cord, and a cord, L3, fastened at each end to the feet, passes through the said ring. By these upper and lower systems of cords, "the one centering upon the backot' the operator, and the other at the feet, full control of the wings is obtained under the motion imparted thereto by the hands, either to mai ntain them in the horizontal position represented in the drawings for soaring or Lwhep operating in the ordinary vibratory or beating motion.

The dorsal wing is composed of one long rod, M, and two or more transverse rods or bars, N N, similar to those of the side wings, except that one nearest the body is the shortest. The outer transverse rods are hinged in a manner to allow them to vibrate both in a vertical and horizontal plane. To preventlateral motion inthis wing, cords may be extended from the waist-belt to the ends of the eX- tending-rods N', if preferred.

Cords are arranged upon the upper side of the win g to support it in a manner very similar to those on the side wings, except that these cords are firmly secured to the ring N2 to prevent lateral motion, and the cord which extends from the ring to the ends of the outer bow or transverse rods, N', is elastic to allow the wings to close` downward during an upward movement ot' the body. This wing is supported by a hinged joint of the end of the rod M to the cuirass at the centerof the back, whereby cords `extending from the ring N2 to the cuirass at the points of the shoulders support it horizontally, ornearly so. The transverse rod N is connected by links P to a sliding tube, P', on the rod M, and the inner end of the wing is extended by drawing the said sliding tube toward the body by cords, similarly to the arrangement of theinner ends of the side wings, audit is folded by sliding the tube outward when the cords are disconnected from the waistband. Like the side.wings,this is alsor provided with a system of stay-cords on the under side, and they are connected by a cord,

Q, with the heels ot' the operator, thereby enabling him to manipulate them with his feet. These wingsfmay be readily detached from the body and folded away. In operation the person will make movements similar to those when swimming, thereby imparting to the side wings the motion of oars, which very closely resembles the motion of wings of birds.

The cords which support the side wings may be either secured to the shoulder-wings or pass through them, as shown in the drawings. In either case the wings balance each other.

I do not desire to limit myself to any particular form of win gs, as they may be Varied to a considerable extent without departing from the principle ot' my invention. For inA stance-the gaiis near theouter ends, which cause these wingsto resemble the sails of vessels, may be dispensed with, when they will take the form ot' the common bow-kite, with the exception that the'long rod does not cross the long bow at the center.

Instead of connecting the inner ends ofthe side wings to the belt by the strap-hinges, I may employ a semicircular metallic springguard hinged to the waist-belt, asrepresented in the detail, Fig. 6, and connect the ends of the wing-rods thereto in such a manner that the said spring-guard will rise and fall withthem; or two straightbars may be jointed at the sides of the waistband and connected in front of the person by a transverse bar, to which the wing-rods may be connected. t A

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent- 1. The side wings, A, provided with the upper system ot' stay-cords, and supported from `the shoulders and the arms, substantially as specified.

2. Theside wings, A,provided with thelower system ot stay-cords, and connected to the` ring L?, when the latter is suspended from the belt and connected to the feet, substantially as specified. f

3. The dorsal wing hinged to the waist,sup ported from the points of the shoulders, and connected tothe feet,.substautially as specified.

4. rlhe cuirass constructed and adapted for supporting the wings and protecting the body, v

substantially as specified.

5." The combina-tion, with the rods B and the cnirass, of the double hinge I, swiveled to the said cuirass, substantially as specified.

6. The rods C and N, hinged to the long rods,

and provided with the slides F P and conmeeting-rods, and arranged for spreading the wings, substantiully as specified.

W. F. QUINBY. Witnesses:

JOHN MOORE, WM. D. EvEs. 

